KUALA LUMPUR – Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh recently expressed his appreciation for the leadership and people of Malaysia for their long-standing support and for standing firm in defending the rights of the Palestinians.
Bernama reported today that Ismail, who is also the head of the Hamas political bureau, said this in a phone call with Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin yesterday to inform him of the latest developments on the Israeli military invasion of Palestinian land in the Sheikh Jarrah area of East Jerusalem.
In a press statement written in Arabic and received by Bernama, Hamas chief press secretary Taher Nunu said Ismail also praised Malaysia’s role in the Palestinian issue and the historic relationship between the two countries.
In the conversation, Taher said Muhyiddin also emphasised the rights of the Palestinians to an independent state, with Jerusalem as the capital, as well as to end the occupation and gain independence.
Taher said Malaysia supported those rights and at the same time would work with several Islamic countries to move forward for the sake of the Palestinians and provide immediate humanitarian support through relevant institutions.
In the telephone conversation, Muhyiddin said that Malaysia would work at every level, including the United Nations, UN Security Council, and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation in an effort to stop the attacks and aggression.
It was reported that Israel’s recent aggressions started with the attack on Al-Aqsa Mosque on May 7, followed by air strikes in the Gaza Strip since last Monday.
Since then, a total of 139 people, including 39 children and 22 women, have been killed while another 950 were injured.
Show-cause for calling Hamas ‘militants’
On May 13, the government had also directed the Broadcasting Department (RTM) to take action on the editors of its Mandarin news bulletin after it had referred to Hamas as “militants”.
Communications and Multimedia Minister Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah had said that the Mandarin desk’s editor and chief news editor were summoned to give an explanation, while the officers involved were given show-cause letters.
This came about as the term “militants” was said to have been used in the TV2 Mandarin news bulletin on May 2 regarding Israel’s air strikes against Palestine.
An open apology was subsequently carried in the form of a correction in Berita Tengah Hari at 1pm and Berita Mandarin at 7pm the same day.
Following this, a Malaysian outfit pushing for companies and products with Israeli interests to be boycotted called on RTM news to describe Hamas as “freedom fighters”.
Called Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Malaysia, it claimed that “militants” is used as part of a collection of terms to run Hamas down and boost Zionist propaganda. – The Vibes, May 16, 2021
